1. Elena Ghonis, Autism Specialist
Jennifer Ensley, Special Education Teacher

2. Visual vs. Auditory Learners
Things to remember as educators:
 Visual communication is the most effective form
of communication for most students!
 Children with special needs who experience a
communication disorder frequently have behavior
difficulties because they are not successful in
communicating their wants and needs.
 They tend to be visual learners living in a very
auditory world.

3. Visual learner in an Auditory World
 Let’s take a brief glimpse into how our students may
feel doing an everyday activity. Experience Autism Video

4. What are visual supports?
 Directions, prompts, or cues that you can see.
 i.e.- schedules, directions, task
analysis, checklist, information sharers, physical
boundaries and behavior supports.
 Teachers and teacher assistants can also serve as a visual
tool by exhibiting expected behaviors
 i.e.- greeting a visitor with a handshake, hands by your
side while walking in the hall.

5. A few examples:
 Daily and personal schedules
 Classroom rules
 Bathroom and Hand washing Routines
 Behavior supports
 Visual cues (Behavior and Learning)
 Checklist and organizers
 Information sharers

6. Who benefits from visual
supports?
 Students of all ages
 Teachers
 Teacher assistants
 Parents
 Therapist
 EVERYONE benefits!!

7. Why use visual supports?
 Improve student understanding and enhance learning
 Decrease student fear and anxieties
 Support appropriate behavior
 Increase expressive communication
 Teach self-regulation and self-management for
independence

8. Where can visual supports be used?
EVERYWHERE!!

9. Bottom line: Visual supports help students with disabilities….
 Follow classroom rules
 Understand what they are suppose to do
 Know what is happening next
 Reduce aggressive or self-injurious behavior
 Decrease frustration and anxiety
 Transition from one activity to another
 Gain independence and understand boundaries

10. Visual Supports In Action

11. CREATING VISUAL SUPPORTS
Remember: K.I.S.S.
KEEP IT SIMPLE SILLY
Trial and Error
Individualization

12. Daily and Personal Schedules
 Provides students with the sequence of the days
events.
 Make sure to include regular activities as well as
something new like a field trip.
 Identify students level of learning: object, picture, or
words.
 Classroom and individual student schedules.

13. Classroom Schedules

14. Individual Schedules
More Individual
Schedules

15. Steps to Creating Schedules
1- Divide the day ( room changes, activities, subjects, staff)
2- Name each segment (from the student’s point of view)
3- Select representation system (object, symbols/pictures, or words)
4- Format ( Size, location, time representation, individual or group, or both)
5- Student participation ( cross off, Velcro, pointing)
6- USE THE SCHEDULE( follow it, refer to it)

16. Classroom Rules
 Visual supports help the student understand what we
expect of them and appropriate behavior
 Post the rules in a variety of places/modes
 Review the rules regularly
 Allow appropriate wait times (1,2,3)
 Prompt as needed
 You may need to institute rules for individual students
to address specific problems

17. Classroom Rules- Variety of delivery methods

18. Routines (Morning, Bathroom, etc.)
Morning Routine
1) Put book bag on the table and open bag.
2) Take folder and lunch out of book bag.
3) Put folder in the basket.
3) Zip book bag.
4) Take off coat.
4) Hang book bag and coat in your cubby.

19. Routines cont’d ( Home, Community)

20. Behavior Management

21. Visual Cues
Placed on students desk
Placed throughout the classroom

22. Visual Cues Cont’d

23. Expressive Communication

25. Checklist/ Organizers

26. Information Sharing

27. Additional commonly used
visual supports
 Checklist
Checklist or “to do” list are good support for helping a student
remember a sequence of behavior. Primarily designed for
students who are older and who read, they provide visual
representation of the parts of an activity that have been
completed versus the ones that have not. This allows your
student a greater sense of control of activity/environment. You
could also create a checklist/ “to do” list using pictures/symbols.
 Color coding
The purpose of color coding is to either highlight an important
feature or to present a category. Highlighters, markers, colored
pencils, colored background are all examples of some of the tools
you might use to color code instructional material.

28. Additional commonly used
visual supports cont’d
 Comic strip conversations
Comic strip conversation is a visual tool and can reduce challenging
behavior of students with disability who have below average verbal
ability. CSC may not be appropriate for students who have not yet
mastered the concept of sequencing, or verbal responses between the
communicator and listener.
 Graphic organizers
Used to organize information or thoughts in such a way that a visual
learner would be more likely to comprehend and recall the
information. They can be simple and contain only a few ideas, or
complex enough to visually represent more complicated concepts.
 Social stories
The goal is to develop in picture/word format, a story about the
appropriate use of a target social skill or rule. The story should be
written in language to the student’s ability.

29. Additional commonly used
visual supports cont’d
 Mnemonics- A technique, such as a rhyme, acronym, or
picture, consciously used as an aid in remembering specific
information. Examples:
 Student may be taught to visualize a “mini soda” to remember the state of
Minnesota when studying the United States.
 Using your “HEAD” during a conversation; the acronym HEAD stands for
Happy voice, Eye contact, Alternate, Distance.
 Video modeling
It involves videotaping/recoding one or more people modeling the
behavior you want to teach; it could be used to model more complex
behavior that cannot be readily depicted in a stationary picture. Video
modeling can be used to teach social skills, life skills, non-interactive
skills, etc.

30. Things to Remember
 When creating visual tools, select what the is easily
recognizable to the student
 Be clear and concise
 Make sure the student understands the system
 Include the correct information
 Assess and make changes as needed
 USE the visual supports!

31. A Final Funny

32. Questions, Thoughts & Comments